Chapter 15

After a few weeks, Glen and Susan had settled into a comfortable routine. At first, Glen had been very reluctant to return to work and leave her home alone. But Susan had insisted that she would be fine and since she had returned to work herself, Glen knew there was no reason for him not to go. He didn't want to push his luck with Vince anyway. He definitely wanted to take some time off once the baby was born, so he knew he needed to get in as many appearances as he could now to get back on his boss's good side.

It took Susan a few days to get used to staying in his large house all by herself…it had been so long since she had lived alone. But she tried to keep herself busy with her work so she didn't dwell on things too much. She also knew that she didn't have a lot of time left before her maternity leave kicked in and she wanted to tie up as many loose ends as possible around the office to make it easier for everyone else while she was gone. In the evenings, she kept herself busy by doing housework and laundry, wanting to help Glen with the house as much as possible. Since he refused to accept any rent from her, she felt it was the least she could do to repay him for letting her stay there. Even so, he usually fussed at her each week when he returned home, saying that she was spending too much time on her feet and she needed to rest more.

She also continued to search for a place of her own, although so far she hadn't come across anything that suited her. All of the places she had found were either too expensive, too small, or they didn't want to accept tenants with children. She had considered just buying herself another house, but after talking with her attorney, he advised her not to make any major purchases until after the divorce was final. So she continued to look through the papers, hoping that something would pop up. She wanted to be in her own place before the baby was born if at all possible. She knew if she had to wait until afterwards, it would be harder to get everything done.

While she continued to search for a place to live, she still had not talked with her husband. She hadn't seen him since the night that she left him. She was relieved that she had someplace to hide out and lay low because she was sure that if she were to see him, he would beg her to come back to him. And right now, she didn't want to listen to more of his lies. However, she'd had her attorney draw up separation papers and instructed him to send David a copy. She assumed that once he received those, he should have figured out pretty quickly that she wasn't coming back this time. She wondered how upset he really was or if he even cared that she was gone.

Glen on the other hand had been a huge help to her. He gave her the moral support she needed to help her feel good about herself again and he gave her a shoulder to cry on when she didn't feel so hot. He also insisted that she take good care of herself and the baby, even on those days that she didn't feel like crawling out of bed. If it hadn't been for him, she didn't know if she would have made it through the whole ordeal with her sanity in tact.

Looking at the clock, Susan saw that it was almost time for him to be home. She had prepared his favorite dish for supper and she hoped that his flight hadn't been delayed so it wouldn't be cold when he got there. As she put the finishing touches on the table, she smiled when she thought about how good it would be to see him again. As the time passed, Susan found herself looking forward to his return more and more each week. She missed having someone to talk to and laugh with while he was gone and the nights that he was away seemed unbearably long. She enjoyed his companionship and she usually counted down the days until it was time for him to come home again.

Glancing at the clock once more, she turned toward the front door just in time to see him come in. Glen smiled when he saw that she already had dinner on the table for him. Sitting his bags down, he walked toward her and gave her a hug, then began his usual lecture about how she was spending too much time working and not enough time resting. Susan simply rolled her eyes and laughed at him. She had already come to the conclusion that he wasn't going to stop fussing over her until the baby was born. So instead of arguing with him, she usually just let him have his say, then dropped the issue.

They sat down at the table and chatted about his trip while they ate, while Glen repeatedly stole glances at her, still overjoyed that she had agreed to stay with him. He loved coming home to find her waiting on him, although he found himself on more than one occasion reminding himself that this wasn't a permanent arrangement. He knew that at any time, he could come through the door, only to have her tell him that she had found her own place and was moving out. But for now, he simply wanted to enjoy the fact that she was here with him.

So far, everything had worked out well. She had definitely loosened up around him, often teasing him and joking with him mercilessly. She had even taken to curling up against him on the couch while they watched television and he would often wrap his arms around her and stroke her hair or her back while they watched their favorite shows. But he had never taken it any farther than that, although he had been tempted on more than one occasion. He knew the last thing she needed right now was more stress or complication in her life, so he held his feelings back, hoping that maybe when the time came, she would make the first move and he would finally be allowed to love her again.

Once dinner was finished, Glen banished her to the couch while he washed the dishes. To tired to argue, Susan stretched out and flipped on the TV as she waited for Glen to come and join her. Once he was done with the dishes, Glen headed to his room to shower and put on some comfortable clothes. Then he headed back to the living room, where he found Susan dozing lightly on the couch. He sat down on one end of the sofa and pulled her feet into his lap and began to massage them, being careful not to be too rough on her.

"Oh God Glen! That feels so good!" she moaned, as his large hands worked over his swollen feet.

Glen held back a groan of his own at the sound of her voice, remembering a time not so long ago when she had encouraged him at another task with those same words.

"If you would stay off of them, they wouldn't hurt so bad." he teased, as he tried to take his mind off of the memories that were running rampant through his head.

"Well, I would crawl, but then I'd have to worry about getting carpet burn on my stomach when I move." she shot back.

"Smart ass." he mumbled playfully, as he gently ran his fingers up the bottom of her foot.

He smiled when he heard her giggle and felt her try to pull her foot away.

"Ticklish, are we?" he asked, as he brushed his fingers against her skin once more.

She giggled again and raised up to look at him. "Yes. I'm ticklish. Especially there." she laughed, when he touched her again.

"Well now. I might have just figured out a way to solve all of our problems. Anytime you start arguing with me, I'll just sit on you and tickle your feet until you see things my way." he teased.

"You wouldn't dare." she laughed again, knowing full well he was bluffing. "You'd be too afraid that you might harm little 'ol fragile me. You'd never be able to live it down."

Glen chuckled at her knowing that she was right. He would never take a chance on doing something to hurt her, even if it was horseplay. No matter how careful he tried to be, he knew he could cause her serious harm if he did happen to slip up. And he'd never be able to live with himself if he did that.

He smiled as he watched her settle back down on the couch, then he went back to rubbing her feet. She was silent for a while, except for the soft moans and sighs that escaped her lips while he worked. Once he was finished, he glanced over at her and noticed that her eyes were closed. He thought for a moment that he had put her to sleep until she spoke to him again.

"I need to go back to the house tomorrow." she said, already knowing that he would try to stop her.

"What do you need to go back there for?" Glen asked, already not liking the sound of the idea.

"I need to get some more of my things. Plus, I need to get some of the items from the nursery. I need to get some things together so I will be ready when the baby comes."

"Why don't you just let me take you shopping and I'll buy you whatever you need." he offered.

"I can't let you do that Glen. I've already got most of the things that I need at the house. There's no point in buying more."

"I know but I just don't like the thoughts of you going back there to that place. What if something happens while you're there?"

"What could possibly happen? You know that I won't go inside unless I know that David's not home. All I have to do is go in, grab a few things and get out. It won't take more that thirty minutes at the most. I'll be perfectly safe. Nothing can go wrong."

"At least let me go with you. Just in case something does happen. Besides, you don't need to be lugging those heavy suitcases of yours up and down the stairs. You'll need someone to help you."

"I don't need you to go with me Glen. I'm not going after anything heavy. I'll be fine by myself."

Glen sighed as he looked down at her, knowing that it would do little good to argue with her. She could be such a stubborn little thing when she wanted to be.

Susan looked up and caught the way he was staring at her. "Quit worrying about me Glen. I'll be fine."

"You know, the more you argue with me, the more tempted I am to live up to my earlier threat. How much tickling do you think it would take to get you to agree with me?"

Susan smiled and chuckled at him, but she didn't offer a reply. Instead she snuggled back into the couch and turned her attention back to the TV. Glen could only stare at her, knowing all too well that he had lost the argument. He just hoped that she would be alright going back there alone. Because he would hate to make somebody pay if she wasn't.

The next morning, Susan got up early and got ready, then headed out to the kitchen to fix breakfast for Glen and herself. She was surprised to find that he was already up and had beaten her to it. She helped him get everything finished, then they sat down to eat.

"Are you still going back to the house this morning?" Glen asked, hoping to talk her out of it.

"Yes. I'm going to go this morning, while I know that David's at work. I've already made out a list of everything that I need to get so all I have to do is gather it up and put it in the car. I'll be in and out in a matter of minutes."

"Are you sure you won't let me go with you?" he pleaded, still not liking the idea of her going alone.

"I thought we finished this discussion last night Glen." she replied, looking up at him. "I promise…everything will be fine."

Even though he was still worried, Glen dropped the subject. He didn't want to risk angering her by pushing the issue any further. He would just have to abide by her wishes and hope that everything turned out for the best.

After the breakfast dishes were washed, Susan gathered her things and headed out the door. Glen watched her out the window until she had pulled out of sight, then he went back to the couch and turned on the TV, making sure to glance at the clock to check the time. Then he waited impatiently for her to come back.

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Once again, Susan approached the house slowly, relieved to see that David's car was gone. She pulled into the driveway, then got out and quietly entered the house. She checked the garage again just to make sure that it was empty, then she headed back upstairs to collect the remainder of her things. She hit the nursery first, taking the baby clothes, blankets, diapers and all of the other supplies that she had purchased. Once she had them all gathered, she carried them out to her car and placed them in the trunk. Then she headed back inside to gather her things.

On her way back through the house, she took time to look around her, noticing that the place was a mess. There were dirty dishes piled up in the kitchen and the living room, there were stacks of newspapers all over the floor and the whole house looked like it hadn't been cleaned since she'd left. Shaking her head, she headed back upstairs to the master bedroom. She cautiously opened the door and peered inside, not surprised to see that it was in the same shape. The bed was unmade and there were dirty clothes and towels scattered all across the room. Looking at the dresser, she saw that the mirror had been broken and the remains of the glass were still scattered across the top of it.

Turning her attention to the closet, she tried to ignore the condition of the room as she quickly began to sort through her things. She grabbed the rest of her maternity clothes first, because she needed them now, then filled the rest of the bag with her other clothes that she would be able to wear after the baby was born. She stopped long enough to rearrange the items in her bag, wanting to make more room so she could take as many of her things as possible. She didn't want to have to come back here again.

As she turned back to the closet and began rummaging through the remainder of her things, she was startled by a noise. Stepping back out of the closet, she looked toward the open door of the bedroom and froze in place when she saw her husband standing in the doorway.